CROSSWORD SETTER: Elizabeth A. LongTHEME: NORTHBOUND LANES … the grid is divided into two sections vertically, with everything left of the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD representing ONCOMING TRAFFIC. Everything right of the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD is in NORTHBOUND LANES, and all the “down” answers in this section are written “northbound” i.e. upside downCOMPLETION TIME: I gave up after 40 minutes!ANSWERS I MISSED: Almost everything on the right side of the grid … and given today's date, I guess that makes me an April Fool!

CROSSWORD SETTER: Peter A. CollinsTHEME: ELIZABETH TAYLOR … all of the theme answers are linked to the late Hollywood legend:

55A. With 17-Across, late Hollywood star : ELIZABETH
17A. See 55-Across : TAYLOR
21A. 1963 title role for 55-/17-Across : CLEOPATRA
45A. 1960 film for which 55-/17-Across won a Best Actress Oscar : BUTTERFIELD 8
61A. "Suddenly, Last ___" (1959 film starring 55-/17-Across) : SUMMER
4D. 1944 title role for 55-/17-Across : VELVET
49D. How often 55-/17-Across was married : 8 TIMES

CROSSWORD SETTER: Kevin G. DerTHEME: GET READY TO ROLL … My first impression of the theme today was wrong! I thought the grid represented a pinball machine, whereas it actually represents a lane in a bowling alley, The circled letters running down the left and right sides spell GUTTER, and we need to keep the ball out of there. This is a rebus puzzle, so some squares include more than one letter. The black square in the grid represents the letters PIN, and the black circle represents the letters BALL. If you look carefully the black "ball" is curving its way down the lane trying to make the split and pick up the spare, to "knock down" the four pins remaining at the end of the lane. I think there are some theme answers as well, relating to bowling:

CROSSWORD SETTER: Jeremy NewtonTHEME: The C-Major Scale ... the circled letters are notes, all correctly placed on a "stave", and are the first notes of the most famous theme from the last movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. That's the bit that's sung, "Freude, schöner Götterfunken". Also, there are theme answers that relate to the same piece of music:

16A. Composer of 20-Across : BEETHOVEN
20A. Work by 16-Across : ODE TO JOY
57A. How the circled letters of 20-Across are played : IN C-MAJOR
62A. Items you might play 20-Across on : PIANO KEYS

CROSSWORD SETTER: Andrea Carla MichaelsTHEME: MALT, MELT, MILT, MOLT & MULT all the vowels ... the theme answers all begin with the letter M*LT with the second letter (*) rotating through all of the vowels in sequence:

CROSSWORD SETTER: Patrick BerryTHEME: Reverend Spooner, U.S.P.S ... all the theme clues are related to the Postal Service, and the answers are given as if stated by Reverend Spooner, i.e. with the sound of starting syllables swapped:

Spoonerisms are errors in speech in which letters or sounds are switched from one word to another. Famous examples are "Three cheers for our queer old dean" (dear old Queen ... Victoria) and "Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?" (customary to kiss). Spoonerisms are named after an Oxford don, William Archibald Spooner, who was notorious for his tendency to pepper his speech with "spoonerisms".

CROSSWORD SETTER: Peter A. CollinsTHEME: TAILING OFF ... all the theme answers relate to kite-flying, and the four circled letters K-I-T-E form the shape of a kite when joined with a line. The remaining Ts in the grid, if circled and joined with a line, form the tail of the kite. The themed answers are:

17A. On cloud nine : FLYING HIGH
38A. Bob Dylan song ... or a hint to the object found by connecting the four circled letters in a diamond : BLOWIN' IN THE WIND
59A. Waning ... or a hint to what is found by circling all the T's in the completed puzzle : TAILING OFF

CROSSWORD SETTER: Paul HunsbergerTHEME: KEYBOARD WEST ... every answer in the puzzle is composed exclusively of letters that are found on the WEST side of the keyboardCOMPLETION TIME: 7m 03sANSWERS I MISSED: 0

CROSSWORD SETTER: David J. KahnTHEME: JACK or JOHN ... both ANDREW JACKSON and ANDREW JOHNSON fit as answers for 39A. "Either of the two presidents who also served as a US SENATOR from TENNESSEE". As a result, three of the down clues can also have two answers:

CROSSWORD SETTER: David PooleTHEME: Sound expressions ... each of the theme answers "sounds like" a familiar expression, all from the world of literature and/or film:

- A FARE TO REMEMBER (sounds like "Affair to Remember")
- A COMEDY OF ERAS (sounds like "A Comedy of Errors")
- ICY DEAD PEOPLE (sounds like "I see dead people")
- LUKE BACK IN ANGER (sounds like "Look Back in Anger")

Adsense Wide Skyscraper

About This Blog

This is the simplest of blogs.

I do the New York Times puzzle online every evening, the night before it is published in the paper. Then, I "Google & Wiki" the references that puzzle me, or that I find of interest. I post my findings, along with the solution, as soon as I am done, usually well before the newsprint version becomes available.

About Me

The name's William Ernest Butler, but please call me Bill. I grew up in Ireland, but now live out here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am retired, from technology businesses that took our family all over the world.

Crosswords and My Dad

I worked on my first crossword puzzle when I was about 6-years-old, sitting on my Dad's knee. He let me "help" him with his puzzle almost every day as I was growing up. Over the years, Dad passed on to me his addiction to crosswords. Now in my early 50s, I work on my Irish Times and New York Times puzzles every day. I'm no longer sitting on my Dad's knee, but I feel that he is there with me, looking over my shoulder.

This blog is dedicated to my Dad, who passed away at the beginning of this month.